New York Giants: Giants defeat Redskins 18-10 in season finale

By Michael Stewart

Introduction: The New York Giants season has finally ended with an 18-10 win over the Washington Redskins. The win caps off a 3-13 record for the Giants this season and the 2nd overall pick in the 2018 draft. Quarterback Eli Manning didn’t need to carry this team and attempt 40+ passes as the Giants running game had its best game of the season with 260 yards on the ground. Orleans Dartwa led the way with 154 yards on 20 touches and rookie Wayne Gallman added 89 yards on 15 carries. Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins probably saved his worse game of the year with 3 interceptions and never really was able to generate any momentum offensively. Defensively, the Giants showed up and performed much better than the Redskins defense as they collected 3 interceptions (two by Kelvin Sheppard)

Top Reasons Why the Giants Won:

Running the ball: Both teams ranked near the bottom of the league in rushing and the team that wins in the running game had a good chance of the winning the game. Not only did the Giants win this battle (260 to 61); they arguably had their best running game since Tiki Barber was their running back.

Turnovers: This was one of my preview matchups I had listed that the Giants needed to win to give themselves a chance to win the game. The Giants had a +2 turnover ratio compared to the Redskins -2.

Manning-vs-Cousins: This was another matchup preview I had featured that had Manning needing to play equally as well as Cousins to give the Giants an edge. Manning’s numbers will not overly impressive, however; he minimized his mistakes and outplayed his opponent in that department.

Hero: Giants Running Game/RB and OL: Darwa and Gallman played like a two-headed monster for the Giants today and most of the credit should go to the offensive line who did a great job opening lanes.

Goat: Quarterback Kirk Cousins: Cousins was horrible and he would be the first to admit it. Cousins look indecisive in his reads and often under threw his intended receivers.

Final Thoughts: Now that the season is finally over for the Giants, newly anointed GM Dave Gettleman will now begin a long and most likely grueling process this season on rebuilding the Giants into a playoff team. Despite their 3-13, Gettleman does have talent on this team and the Giants are banking on years of experience under Gettleman’s belt that he will make the right moves. The first big move should be the hiring of the Giants next Head Coach as their several candidates already being mentioned to fill the void. In the upcoming months leading up to the draft; look for my prospect analysis and mock drafts for the Giants.